Did anyone see the movie Hidalgo?
I'd like to go to that movie but I have second thoughts after watching the trailer._________________In a world without justice, one man was chosen to protect the innocent.

Bruiser
Lieutenant

Joined: Sep 10, 2003
Member#: 3050
Posts: 123

Posted:
Sun Apr 11, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject:

Hidalgo was a great movie!! It was an entertaining, suspensful adventure. The relationship between Frank (Viggo Mortensen - *sigh!) and his horse Hidalgo was funny and touching. The performances are great and the look of the film is magnificent. The coming together of two cultures both in the friendship between the Bedouin sheik (Omar Sharif)and in Frank himself are inspiring.

There has been controversy regarding the authenticity of the story, i.e. Frank Hopkin's claims to have ridden in the Ocean of Fire race, whether it ever actually took place, etc. etc. I don't think you should worry about that if you go see it. Hidalgo is one of those movies where you say, "If that ain't true, it oughta be." One caution I would give - for a Disney film, it is rather violent; I would not recommend it for very young children. Take them to see Home on the Range instead.

I enjoyed Hidalgo for at least trying to tackle some weighty issues like loss of the Native American way of life and the mustang as a symbol of that culture.

I was a little upset that so many nameless Arabs were killed by spearing or shootings, some of the villains were stereotypical portrayals, and the other Bedouin riders in the Ocean of Fire race were not fully developed characters.

Although the film had a very simple and predictable plot, I enjoyed the action scenes and subtle romance. The performance by Omar Sharif helped to elevate the film. Viggo Mortensen did a good job looking fatigued and anguished on his horse, kind of like Aragorn in the Two Towers.

Keep in mind that Bruiser's a little biased.
You show her a film of Viggo picking his ear and she'll give it a thumbs up.

It's funny that one movie can change an appearance of one man. A few noticed him in Crimson Tide, Many hated him in G.I.Jane and, although I thought he played well, nobody will remember his performance in A Perfect Murder._________________In a world without justice, one man was chosen to protect the innocent.

I saw him in Daylight about a month ago. To me he was an invisible actor before LotR. I have seen GI jane and Crimson Tide too. But I couldn't recall him playing in those movies._________________"Believe it or not, I do try to do some good in the community." -Alonzo Harris

I saw Hidalgo last Tuesday. It was a really good movie. Go see it if you still can._________________"I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher."

keolanut
Cadet 2

Joined: Aug 17, 2003
Member#: 2782
Posts: 6
Location: United States

Posted:
Sun May 02, 2004 12:19 pm Post subject:

I havent gotten to see it yet, But Im gonna see it when it comes out on dvd. I imagine that it should be out soon. Does anyone know when it will be out ?_________________~*«(#)»¿ÇhRï§tïÑè¿«(#)»*~ And when he gets to heaven, to St. Peter he will tell: One more man reporting for duty sir, I survived my tim in hell.

__Daedalus__
Cadet 3

Joined: Apr 29, 2004
Member#: 6459
Posts: 14
Location: England

Posted:
Sun May 02, 2004 1:29 pm Post subject:

I've only seen the trailer yet, and it looked incredibly impressive. Btw does anyone know the name or where I can get the music from the trailer? Hopefully seeing the film next week!

circleprovider
Lieutenant Junior Grade

Joined: Feb 08, 2004
Member#: 4984
Posts: 65

Posted:
Thu May 13, 2004 10:12 pm Post subject:

I saw the movie on opening weekend, but that's normal, as I've said before I'm a bit of a spaz when it comes to movies.

I remember it was opening weekend because I thought it was odd that such a movie was playing on such a small screen. As it turned out there was a really bloody movie about some historical figure who lived a couple thousand years ago that came out that same night and pushed all other movies aside.

It was a small theater, the sound was minimal, over all not the best movie viewing experience, but I still had a great time watching the movie.

I also read an interview with Viggo earlier that day which I think helped. The are two key elements that I think helped make the movie that much better. The first, this was a role that Viggo had wanted to do. He was interested in the character and wanted to do a good job in portraying him. He also has great respect for the Mustang as well as all horses. And two, the "main" horse that they used for Hidalgo was not a properly trained horse, but he was a natural. The horse was able to "show" personality and do moves on command that they normally have to train horses for several weeks for. And knowing that before you go into the movie made it that much more interesting to watch the interaction between Frank and Hidalgo.

I think it also helped that Viggo already is a competent rider. He rode in most of the scenes, if not all, including the dangerous 500 horse mad-dash scenes. The director found that they had to stick with Viggo simply because of his unique stance when riding a horse.

All in all, it was a good movie to watch. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Action or like in Bruiser's case, Viggo.